NAVIGATION

The head of Medusa is represented in works of art with a countenance of touching beauty and a wealth of hair wreathed with snakes . Mythology states that she had been a fair maiden whose luxuriant hair had been turned by Athene into snakes in revenge for the desecration of her sanctuary . Her head was cut off by Perseus and was after regarded as a means of protection against enchantment either by word or deed , and the snake became employed as a powerful amulet often carved on Greek and Roman decorative furniture and ornaments .